Skewerer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. One who impales food or items on a thin rod for cooking or serving ; a person who criticizes sharply and publicly ; an instrument used to pierce and hold pieces of food while cooking or displaying
2. An individual who pierces and holds pieces of meat or vegetables on a rod for grilling ; someone who harshly attacks or ridicules another verbally ; a tool designed to secure food by skewering for roasting or presentation
3. A person engaged in placing food items on a pointed stick for roasting or grilling ; an individual who delivers biting or severe criticism ; a device employed to impale foods for cooking or serving purposes

Etymology: "Skewerer" is a plain formation: the noun "skewer," a thin pointed rod used to hold food together during cooking, with the agentive suffix "-er" attached. The suffix turns a verb or noun into a word for someone or something that performs an action, so a skewerer is one who skewers, or, by extension, a tool that does the skewering. The word's two main senses follow from that structure. The literal sense covers a cook or server who spears pieces of food on a rod, or the utensil itself. The figurative sense, a person who criticizes sharply and publicly, transfers the image of piercing from meat to a person's reputation, so a sharp-tongued critic is described as one who impales targets in print or in public.

Synonyms: piercer, impaler, spitter